inner-solitude &laquo; WordPress.com Tag Feedhttps://en.wordpress.com/tag/inner-solitude/
Feed of posts on WordPress.com tagged "inner-solitude"Sat, 10 Dec 2016 05:15:58 +0000https://en.wordpress.com/tags/enhttps://travelinggladly.wordpress.com/2015/12/09/letters-to-a-young-poet/
Wed, 09 Dec 2015 23:08:46 +0000Kimhttps://travelinggladly.wordpress.com/2015/12/09/letters-to-a-young-poet/It’s always strange to read someone’s letters or diary. Such things were originally meant for an audience of one or two- or for no one, in the case of a diary or journal- and yet the correspondence of some writers make it into the public sphere, their raw and unedited (or lightly edited) words providing a window into a mind that may not have shone through as much in the work that was meant for the public.

In Letters to a Young Poet, I discovered a Rilke not quite like the one I was familiar with. I’ve read much of Rilke’s poetry, have been in love with his Duino Elegies since I was in high school, and regularly re-read The Book of Hours and The Books of Images. There is a melancholy feeling in all of them, and the ethereal quality of someone who doesn’t quite think on the same plane as the rest of us, but in Letters…, I found a man haunted by a disastrous period in a military school, who seemed lonely even when surrounded by people, but who was comfortable in his solitude at the same time. A man who was sure of his own creativity and his work, but not arrogant about it.

I think this little book should be required reading for people who go into creative fields, whether it’s writing, art, or… anything, really. Everyone should read this book. The section where Rilke tells Kappus (the young man who began the correspondence) that he should not become a writer unless everything in his being reaches for the written word, unless he could not live without doing it, is great advice for anyone searching for the Great Thing they wish to do with his/her life, whether it’s writing, dancing, or carpentry. You look inside yourself. You conquer the dragons that tell you that you can’t achieve what you want. You find your inner solitude and the Thing You Must Do, and then you go and do it. Fearlessly, and without regard for the judgment of others.

So go and find a copy of Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet. Read it. Read it again. Then go and act, ‘with beauty and courage’.

“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

]]>https://asonebeingtaught.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/monday-vitamins/
Mon, 01 Dec 2014 03:22:00 +0000E. Adams Wrighthttps://asonebeingtaught.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/monday-vitamins/May our eyes be open wide, our ears keenly attuned, and our hearts tender toward Him and our fellow pilgrims this week. May this be the week when we “learn to penetrate things and find God there.”
]]>https://praylikeagourmet.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/spirituality-is-not/
Tue, 12 Mar 2013 14:00:19 +0000david brazzealhttps://praylikeagourmet.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/spirituality-is-not/“Spirituality is not to be learned in flight from the world, by fleeing from things to a place of solitude; rather we must learn to maintain an inner solitude regardless of where we are or who we are with. We must learn to penetrate things, and find God there.”
– Meister Eckhart (from – On Detachment and Possessing God)
]]>https://ghettosun.com/2012/05/03/the-fences/
Fri, 04 May 2012 05:25:09 +0000YBhttps://ghettosun.com/2012/05/03/the-fences/I build too many walls or maybe I should consider them to be barbed wire fences. People try to climb them but always get cut trying to hurl themselves over the top. I never liked the idea of people getting too close to me. I never liked the idea of getting too close to other people. I’ve never felt honored when a woman asked me to meet her family. I’ve never enjoyed hanging out with a woman and her female friends. I’ve always believed that the most beautiful thing in the world is a woman who can stand alone.

After graduating from college even though I got excellent marks I distinctly remember feeling like a failure. I was upset with myself because I hadn’t found a wife. So I decided to get one. I began paying special attention to a woman who worked with me. She was about a year older than I was and by anyone’s account “had her life together.” She was educated, she was religious, she was from a good family, and she had great job prospects. One day I randomly caught her by herself in town and decided to make myself plain to her on the spot. I told her I thought she was beautiful and that I was getting too old to play games and that I thought she would make a perfect bride and more importantly I was a man that she would be able to depend on forever.

She blushed and then took a deep breath. When she responded she spoke of steps. Multiple steps. I would have to get in good with her family, I would have to be approved of by her best friend, I would have to befriend her pastor, I would have to attend her church, it would take a lot of time, and then it still wouldn’t be guaranteed. She would have to give it up to god. After she finished I shared my philosophy with her. I told her that I love the fact that she can stand alone. I asked her why couldn’t we just solidify our love first and let everything else fall into place later. The girl looked me in my eyes and said; “You know that’s what the devil does? He always wants to get people by themselves.” I walked away from that conversation without a clear understanding of what had just taken place and further away from getting a wife than I had ever been.

For a long time I was confused about what it takes to find a life-partner and now I’m just scared. I’m scared because I’m no longer confused. With each passing year I become more content with the thought that I may never get married. As more and more of my friends prepare to walk down the aisle I continue to erect a series of fences. Each one doing its part to protect my inner-solitude. They say that hell is burning somewhere behind a gate but then heaven has its gate as well. I don’t know which one of these places I am closest to and I’m not sure that I care.